Showing papers on "Architecture published in 1993"

The Architecture of Deconstruction: Derrida's Haunt

Abstract: Nowhere, Mark Wigley asserts, are the stakes higher for deconstruction than in architecture -- architecture is the Achilles' heel of deconstructive discourse, the point of vulnerability upon which all of its arguments depend. In this book Wigley redefines the question of deconstruction and architecture. By locating the architecture already hidden within deconstructive discourse, he opens up more radical possibilities for both architecture and deconstruction, offering a way of rethinking the institution of architecture while using architecture to rethink deconstructive discourse. Wigley relentlessly tracks the tacit argument about architecture embedded within Jacques Derrida's discourse, a curious line of argument that passes through each of the philosopher's texts. He argues that this seemingly tenuous thread actually binds those texts, acting as their source of strength but also their point of greatest weakness. Derrida's work is seen to render architecture at once more complex, uncanny, pervasive, unstable, brutal, enigmatic, and devious, if not insidious, while needing itself to be subjected to an architectural interrogation. Wigley provocatively turns Derrida's reading strategy back on his texts to expose the architectural dimension of their central notions like law, economy, writing, place, domestication, translation, vomit, spacing, laughter, and dance. Along the way he highlights new aspects of the relationship between Heidegger and Derrida, explores the structural role of ornament and the elusive architecture of haunting, while presenting a fascinating account of the institutional politics of architecture.

On Weathering: The Life of Buildings in Time

Abstract: On Weathering illustrates the complex nature of the architectural project by taking into account its temporality, linking technical problems of maintenance and decay with a focused consideration of their philosophical and ethical implications.In a clear and direct account supplemented by many photographs commissioned for this book, Mostafavi and Leatherbarrow examine buildings and other projects from Alberti to Le Corbusier to show that the continual refinishing of the building by natural forces adds to, rather than detracts from, architectural meaning. Their central discovery, that weathering makes the "final" state of the construction necessarily indefinite, challenges the conventional notion of a building's completeness.By recognizing the inherent uncertainty and inevitability of weathering and by viewing the concept of weathering as a continuation of the building process rather than as a force antagonistic to it, the authors offer alternative readings of historical constructions and potential beginnings for new architectural projects.Mohsen Mostafavi is Associate Professor of Architecture and Director of the Master of Architecture I Program at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. David Leatherbarrow is Chairman of the Department of Architecture and of the Program in Urban Design at the Graduate School of Fine Arts, University of Pennsylvania.

Behind the Postmodern Facade: Architectural Change in Late Twentieth-Century America

Abstract: This study explores how architecture "happens" and what has become of the profession in the postmodern era. Drawing on interviews with pivotal architects - from Philip Johnson to Peter Eisenman, it analyzes the complex tensions that exist between economic interest, professional status and architectural product. The book was the winner of the American Institution of Architects Citation for Excellence in International Architecture Book Publishing.

Housing Culture: Traditional Architecture In An English Landscape

Abstract: Housing Culture is an inter-disciplinary study of old houses. It brings together recent ideas in studies of traditional architecture, social and cultural history, and social theory, by looking at the meanings of traditional architecture in western Suffolk, England. The author employs in an English context many of the ideas of Glassie, Deetz and other writers on the American colonies. In so doing, the book forms an important critique and refinement of those ideas, and should prove an indispensable background text for American historical archaeologists in particular. The study spans the late medieval and early modern periods, looking at the layout and structural details of ordinary houses. It argues for a process of closure affecting both technical and social aspects of houses. The context of the process of closure is explored and related to wider social and cultural changes including the feudal/capitalist transition. Housing Culture embodies an innovative and exciting approach to the study of artefacts in an historic period. It will interest historians, historical geographers and archaeologists of the medieval and early modern periods in both England and America. It is also sure to be of interest to students of all areas and periods who seek a theoretically informed approach to the study of traditional architecture and material culture in general. This book is intended for archaeologists, historians (particularly of landscape, architecture, the medieval period, social and cultural) historical geographers, students and researchers of material culture; such groups are found within departments of archeaology, history and anthropology.

Domestic Architecture and the Use of Space: An Interdisciplinary Cross-Cultural Study

Abstract: 1. Activity areas and architecture: an interdisciplinary view of the relationship between use of space and domestic built environments Susan Kent 2. Systems of activities and systems of settings Amos Rapoport 3. Domestic space and the tenacity of tradition among some Betsileo of Madagascar Susan Kus and Victor Raharijaona 4. The built environment and consumer decisions Richard R. Wilk 5. Behavioural conventions and archaeology: methods for the analysis of ancient architecture Donald Sanders 6. Public collective and private space: a study of urban housing in Switzerland Roderick J. Lawrence 7. Domestic space in the Greek city-state Michael H. Jameson 8. A structuring structure: the Swahili house Linda W. Donley-Reid 9. A cross-cultural study of segmentation, architecture and the use of space Susan Kent 10. Domestic space and social structure in pre-Columbian northern Peru Garth Bawden.

A framework for shared applications with a replicated architecture

Abstract: The interaction history of a document can be modelled as a tree of command objects. This model not only supports recovery (undo/redo), but is also suitable for cooperation between distributed users working on a common document. Various coupling modes can be supported. Switching between modes is supported by regarding different versions of a document as different branches of the history. Branches can then be merged using a selective redo mechanism. Synchronous cooperation is supported by replicating the document state and exchanging command objects. Optimistic concurrency control can be applied, because conflicting actions can later be undone automatically.

Architecture culture 1943-1968 : a documentary anthology

Abstract: Architecture Culture 1943-1968 is an anthology of seventy-four international documents with critical commentary. Both a sourcebook and a companion history of architecture, the volume traces the evolution of modern architecture from the midst of the Second World War to the student revolts of May '68. Many of the selections are from hard-to-find sources, and some are translated into English for the first time. Readers will discover a rich and illuminating array of material from a period crucial to understanding the present time.

Architecture, Actor and Audience

Abstract: Understanding the theatre space on both the practical and theoretical level is becoming increasingly important to people working in drama, in whatever capacity. Theatre architecture is one of the most vital ingredients of the theatrical experience and one of the least discussed or understood. In Architecture, Actor and Audience Mackintosh explores the contribution the design of a theatre can make to the theatrical experience, and examines the failings of many modern theatres which despite vigorous defence from the architectural establishment remain unpopular with both audiences and theatre people. A fascinating and provocative book.

Modern landscape architecture : a critical review

Abstract: These twenty-two essays provide a rich forum for assessing the tenets, accomplishments, and limits of modernism in landscape architecture and for formulating ideas about possible directions for the future of the discipline.During the 1930s Garrett Eckbo, Dan Kiley, and JamesRose began to integrate modernist architectural ideas into their work and to design a landscape more in accord with the life and sensibilities of their time. Together with Thomas Church, whose gardens provided the setting for California living, they laid the foundations for a modern American landscape design.This first critical assessment of modem landscape architecture brings together seminal articles from the 1930s and 1940s by Eckbo, Kiley, Rose, Fletcher Steele, and Christopher Tunnard, and includes contributions by contemporary writers and designers such as Peirce Lewis, Catherine Howett, John Dixon Hunt, Peter Walker, and Martha Schwartz who examine the historical and cultural framework within which modern landscape designers have worked.There are also essays by Lance Neckar, Reuben Rainey, Gregg Bleam, Michael Laurie, and Marc Treib that discuss the designs and legacy of the Americans Tunnard, Eckbo, Church, Kiley, and Robert Irwin. Dorothe Imbert takes up Pierre-Emile Legrain and French modernist gardens of the 1920s, and Thorbjrn Andersson reviews experiments with stylized naturalism developed by Erik Glemme and others in the Stockholm park system.Marc Treib is Professor of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley.

Bauhaus : 1919-1933

Abstract: The Bauhaus Archiv Museum of Design in Berlin holds the most important collection on the Bauhaus today. Documents, workshop products from all areas of design, studies sketches in the classroom, and architectural plans and models are all part of its comprehensive inventory. "The Bauhaus Archiv" is dedicated to the study and presentation of the history of the Bauhaus, including the new Bauhaus in Chicago and the Hochschule fur Gestaltung (Institute of Design) in Ulm. This book, drawn from the Archiv's extensive collection, traces this monumental movement in art and architecture via the work of its most important proponents, including Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Vassily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee.

Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History, And Meaning

Abstract: Condensed Contents: Introduction Part 1 * The Elements of Architecture 1. Architecture: The Art of Shaping of Space 2. "Commoditie": Building Functions 3. "Firmness": Structure, or How Does the Building Stand Up? 4. "Delight": Seeing Architecture 5. Architecture and Sound 6. Architecture: Part of the Natural Environment 7. The Architect: From High Priest to Profession 8. Architecture, Memory, and Economics Part 2 * The History and Meaning of Architecture 9. The Beginnings of Architecture: From Caves to Cities 10. The Architecture of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt 11. Greek Architecture 12. Roman Architecture ESSAY 1: Indian Architecture 13. Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture ESSAY 2: Islamic Architecture 14. Medieval Architecture 15. Renaissance Architecture ESSAY 3: Ancient Architecture in the Americas 16. Baroque and Rococo Architecture ESSAY 4: Chinese Architecture 17. The Origins of Modernism: Architecture in the Age of Enlightenment, 1720-1790 ESSAY 5: Japanese Architecture 18. The Roots of Modernism: The Nineteenth Century ESSAY 6: African Architecture 19. Versions of Modern Architecture, 1914-1970 20. The Expansion of Modernism: From the Twentieth Century into the Twenty-First

Architecture and Order: Approaches to Social Space

Abstract: Architecture is a powerful medium for representing, ordering and classifying the world; meaning may be created and reworked by defining symbolic boundaries, analogues and metaphors. For over a decade archaeologists have been using concepts of the symbolic use of space. Contributions to "Architecture and Order" range from studies of hunter-gatherer camp organization to the use of space in classical and medieval worlds. As well as archaeological case studies, there are contributions exploring aspects of anthropological, social, psychiatric and architectural theory.

Architecture and Nihilism: On the Philosophy of Modern Architecture

Abstract: An introduction to the writings of social philosopher Massimo Cacciari. He studies the relation between philosophy and modern architecture and applies the thinking of avant-garde architects, artists and writers to the social and political problems raised by technological society.

Postmodernism : Philosophy and the Arts

Abstract: The language and politics of postmodernism are analysed, and particular sites' - painting, film, dance, fashion, architecture and photography - are philosophically examined. This book should be of interest to advanced students of philosophy, art criticism and comparative literature.

The Roots of Architectural Invention: Site, Enclosure, Materials

Abstract: Site, Enclosure and Materials in Architecture is a study in the history and theory of architecture. Challenging the contemporary concentration on style, it argues that site, enclosure and materials are fundamental elements in sound architectural design. Each of the chapters in this study reviews and criticises current assumptions and then provides an analysis of historical texts, by such theoreticians as Perrault, F. L. Wright, and Le Corbusier, in so far as they illuminate current thinking. Considerable discussion is also devoted to significant buildings, both modern and venerable, that provide the basis for the author's argument. Outlining typical thinking in architecture, with reference to rhetoric and the art of memory, Site, Enclosure and Materials in Architecture defines architecture as a form of representation that is caught up in the temporal unfolding of human events.

ISA system architecture

Abstract: From the Publisher: "An invaluable tool and reference on ISA architecture and time reading it is time well spent. You might just end up wondering how you ever got along without it!" -David Greenberg, Dell Computer Corporation I

Ontology and Representation in Karl Bötticher's Theory of Tectonics

Abstract: Karl Botticher is best known for his landmark theory of architectural tectonics. In the 1840s, Botticher proposed an integrated system of architectural expression, based first on considerations of plan and structure, and then on the symbolism of structure in ornamental forms. Fearful that philosophical aesthetics was leading architecture into purposeless immateriality and a dependence on extrinsic aims, Botticher interpreted ornament as the communication of themes intrinsic to building. In a historical sense, Botticher envisioned a medievalist armature of material and structural forces represented by an explanatory language of Greek ornamental forms. This reformulation of aesthetic ideas, coupled with his related advocacy for the visible expression of iron structure, had great significance for the pursuit of a system of architectural knowledge in modern Germany.

Paris: An Architectural History

Abstract: Paris, with its majestic buildings, elegant boulevards, and colourful neighbourhoods, is often hailed as the most beautiful city in the world. In this lavishly illustrated book, one of the city's leading historians links the beauty of Paris to its harmonious architecture, the product of a powerful tradition of classical design running from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Anthony Sutcliffe traces the main features of the development of Parisian building and architecture since Roman times, explaining the interaction of continuity and innovation and relating it to power, social structure, the property market, fashion, and the creativity of its architects. Three hundred illustrations, most in colour, complement the text, expressing the full character of Paris architecture. Sutcliffe describes in fascinating detail how Paris merged medieval tradition with a Renaissance architecture imported from Italy - first by order of the Crown, then by the aristocracy, the Church, and the middle classes. Under Louis XIV this style became clearly French. After 1789 revolutions and industrialization threatened to undermine Parisian classicism, but it was reinforced by Haussmann in mid-century as part of the most impressive urban development project of all time. Because of Haussmann, says Sutcliffe, public and private buildings conformed to a more rigid design convention than any that Paris had previously known, a classical tradition that remained entrenched until the 1950s, when modernism made its impact in a high-rise revolution during the de Gaulle era. However, explains Sutcliffe, by 1970 this modernist architecture was rejected by the Paris public, and in the last decade the city has seen theemergence of a restrained neo-modern architecture that blends sensitively with the Parisian tradition.

Why is a kiva? New interpretations of prehistoric social integrative architecture in the northern Rio Grande region of New Mexico

Abstract: Building upon Watson Smith's (1952) well-known article that asks "when is a kiva?" this paper utilizes both published and unpublished archaeological data from the northern Rio Grande region to investigate the roles played by socially integrative architecture (kivas) between A.D. 750 and 1500. Traditionally, the dichotomy between pithouse and kiva has rested upon temporal and architectural criteria. Functional implications of structure use (i.e., domestic versus religious) have been determined based upon the architectural pedigree assigned to the structure, thus creating a circular argument that ties function to the formal characteristics of Anasazi architecture. A contrasting cross-cultural approach to social integrative architecture is proposed--one that recognizes a continuum between "domestic" and "ritual" uses of architecture. This approach identifies the size of social groups utilizing integrative architecture as a primary factor affecting structure use and function, thereby avoiding many of the typo...

The Origins of the Gothic Revival: A Reappraisal (The Alexander Prize Essay)

Abstract: For the past 40 years the dominant influence over architectural history, and in particular over stylistic analysis, has been the Modern Movement. Sometimes deliberately, sometimes unconsciously, architectural history has been seen through the teleological spectacles of the Modernists who viewed architecture as a progressive force leading inevitably towards the ultimate triumph of Modernism. At its most obvious this can be seen in studies of late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century architecture which concentrated on those strands that could be said to have been the precursors of Modernism, while ignoring powerful contemporary factors which do not fit in with the Modernist thesis, like the strength of Classical architecture in the 1930s. But even when discussing earlier periods the same basic assumption has prevailed, that architectural style should be seen as progressive. Thus what became important was identifying new fashions and tracing the precedents. As architectural style always moved on, anything that was not innovative or seemed to be regressive was assumed to be old fashioned and the result of ignorance or lack of skill, and consequently of little interest. With die collapse of Modernism, or at least of the assumption that Modernism is the only acceptable way in which to build, and with the revival of older styles which 10 years ago were thought to be dead and buried, this teleological approach to architectural history needs revision. The study of Gothic Revival architecture in England is one area that is revolutionised by the removal of Modernist assumptions.